THERE are aspects of modern life that we don’t question, when sometimes we should.
So congratulations are due to the pupils of Glasgow’s Sunnyside Primary School and Ullapool Primary school, who launched a successful campaign urging local businesses to ditch plastic straws.
How did we get to the point where every child’s drink (and some for adults) needs to be served with a redundant straw? Probably no-one can quite say, but it is a good emblem of the unnecessary waste often generated by our love affair with cheap plastic products.
The schools’ project, which has seen 14 bars and eateries in the town agree to stop stocking the straws, has been hailed as a success for pupil power, and indeed it is. It can also be seen as a success for serious, campaigning television, with the children’s efforts gaining added momentum after the airing of the BBC’s Blue Planet II.
Other precedents for such impact viewing include Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Fish Fight which highlighted the shocking waste of ‘discards’ encouraged under EU laws.
While it is pleasing to see young people responding to the programme’s call to action, and doing their bit for the environment they will inherit, it should prompt all of us to do more, to question the unnecessary single use cutlery, packaging, and bottles we all take – far too readily – for granted.
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